Unique
by walutahanga
Summary: How each ranger team might have felt different from the rest. Chapter 11 added. RPM.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Power rangers is not mine. Thank god, or I'd have to settle on one particular canon of events.

**Mighty Morphin'**

The Mighty Morphin' team is like no other.

They feel this, every time they get together, every time they run into a new face or a new uniform. These new generations always seem so young, so confident. So much like them in the old days, and yet nothing like them at all.

None of these kids were there when power rangers was a new and unfamiliar concept, when there was no fifteen year string of victories to bolster their confidence and give them hope. None of them can remember a time when supervillains only existed in movies, or were there when they stopped being laughable and became terrifyingly real. None of them have had the world had rested on them and them alone, with no retired heroes ready to leap in and catch them should they stumble.

It's an old complaint. Every generation says the new one doesn't know how good they have it. But that doesn't make it less true.

The Mighty Morphin' team is like no other. They were the first.


	2. Chapter 2

**Lost Galaxy**

The Lost Galaxy team is like no other.

They're the only ones that have lost a ranger.

'Lost' is a misleading term. Other teams have lost rangers too. They've lost them to peace conferences, and Pan Global games, and graduation, and even to comas. None of them, however, have lost a ranger to death.

The Lost Galaxy team is the only one to know that feeling, to know that disconcerting feeling of having no Kendrix at your back in battle, to shout at her to use her running claw attack, and realize a moment later that she's not there. She never will be again. It's like trying to learn to walk again after you've lost a leg.

Karone patches it up, a little. With her to prop them up, they can hobble on and pretend everything's okay. It helps that she doesn't try to take Kendrix's place, that it would never even occur to her to try. This journey means something different to her than it does to them, and if they don't share everything with her, then she doesn't share everything with them either. They'll look away when a cold angry stranger looks out of her eyes, and she'll return the favour by looking away when Maya's eyes mist over, or when Damon throws an uppity spanner against the wall.

The Last Galaxy team is like no other. They're the only team that has buried one of their own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lightspeed**

Lightspeed is like no other team.

Theirs is the only one that answers to a human government.

The other teams look down on them for this, a little. Eric Myers will make a few digs, and Tommy Oliver will give them a long-suffering look as if to say 'why are you letting us down?' Tommy is one of those who worked briefly on the Lightspeed project and became quickly disillusioned with the politics. He doesn't believe the human government should have control over such power. He doesn't think any human should. (Where he gets his funding for his little projects is a subject of gossip and speculation among the teams.)

Even the astro rangers, who answer to the Kerovan military, are condescending when it comes to earth governments. Simply put, they don't think earth has come far enough yet to be put in control of rangers. Perhaps they have a point. There are some ugly rumours floating around about what use rangers could be put to; special ops assignments, tactical strikes, and so on. General McKnight has been putting pressure on Mitchell to take care of a 'little Middle East situation'.

But the other teams don't get it. If earthlings can't be in control of their own defences, they'll never be in control of their own destiny. So long as it's seen to by benevolant, all-powerful beings, humans will never develop the knowledge to protect themselves. They'll always be dependant on someone else. As unreliable as earth authority is sometimes, if that's ever going to change, the Lightspeed rangers have to trust them, both to make their mistakes, and to fix them.

Lightspeed is like no other team. They're the only ones with faith in humanity.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ninja Storm**

Ninja Storm is a team like no other.

They are ninjas first, and rangers second.

This is a dichotomy they struggle with. Because rangers are _loud_. They have big weapons, and noisy battle cries, and gigantic freaking zords. You can hear them coming a mile away, and the battles are pretty spectacular to watch. In every other team, this translates to their civilian lives as well. All other teams are loud and energetic. Their movements are big and unrepressed, and so are their lives. Their presence fills up whatever room they're in. They draw attention, whether they mean to or not.

But ninjas are quiet. Subtle. You never know they're there until they've already gone, and sometimes not even then. The Ninja Storm team might be loud in battle; they can shout and blow things up with the best of them. But unmorphed, it's a different story.

It's kind of funny around other teams. The ninjas will slip into the room, and a minute later, everyone will jump, not having seen them enter. Eric Myers is particularly unsettled by them. 'Freaking unnatural' he'll mutter to himself, thinking they can't hear him. He doesn't trust them. He doesn't trust a ranger that can appear and disappear without using the Power.

They've caught Ryan too giving them unreadable looks, but that one stinks of the grave. They've already marked him. If he slips up, they'll be there.

A few other rangers are also quiet. It's any easy quality to spot, once you know what you're looking for. Andros is one of them, and so is Carlos. Adam is so completely unnoticeable they've marked him as extremely dangerous. Trent, they haven't quite decided on. There's something too smooth, too polished about him. Should it come down to it (and it's extremely unlikely that it will) these four will be the first to fall.

Ninja Storm is a team like no other. No other team has been quite so dangerous as they are.


	5. Chapter 5

**Dino Thunder**

Dino Thunder is like no other team.

Conner wishes.

Come on. The uniforms, the zords, the _colour scheme_? Who was Dr O. trying to fool? They've got everything down to the mysterious white ranger trying to kill them all. No pink ranger yet, but that's probably because they haven't found a pink dino stone yet.

Just once, Conner wishes he didn't feel like they were replacements for a team that split up years ago. That Dr O wouldn't drop those little comments like 'Adam used to play soccor too' or 'Billy was great with computers as well' or 'Tanya loved to sing'. It's worse when it gets beyond the superficial surface similaritites, like that time when he gave Conner a disappointed look and said 'Jason and I were great friends, Conner, once he saved me from Rita'.

Conner hates the hint, the implicit expectation contained within that sentence. He's not Jason. He's not patient or forgiving, and probably the first thing he's going to do once he saves the white ranger from himself is kick his ass. He's not Jason, or Adam, or even Rocky, and just once he wishes he could stop feeling like he has to be. Ethan's not Billy either, and Kira isn't Kimberly, and Hayley isn't a stupid robot that shuffles around saying 'ayayay' all the time.

Maybe the Dino Thunder team really is like no other. They're the only ones that have to live up to a legend.


	6. Chapter 6

**SPD**

SPD is like no other team.

Bridge knows this better than the others. After all he's _been_ there, back to the time when there were other active rangers. He's seen that time, and this one, and he knows the difference.

SPD's time is a gentle one. Grumm and Omini aside, the monsters the rangers face are criminals, not soldiers. Mostly they're there to steal or wreck stuff. They'll avoid SPD when possible, only fighting when they're forced into a corner, and even then, they're fighting to get away, not to kill. SPD has only rarely had to make the choice between containing a perp or killing them.

Overdrive never bothered with that decision. None of the teams did. When they went into battle, they went into it looking to kill. They didn't hold back, and they certainly didn't wait for an opening to subdue rather than kill. The second monster Bridge fought in 2007 nearly killed him because he went into it thinking like an SPD officer. It's raw animosity had taken him off-guard, as had the rangers' brutal efficiency. He's never seen anything like 2007, and he never wants to again.

SPD isn't like any other team. Bridge can't help but be glad.


	7. Chapter 7

In Space

The Astro Rangers aren't like any other team.

They have no mentor. One abandoned them, the other was stolen. (Probably. They're not sure that Zordon counts as a mentor. It's not like he ever did any mentoring.) In any case, the result is the same. For the first time in centuries, the rangers have no one to guide them, no one to tell them where to go or what to do.

It's terrifying. It's incredibly freeing.

At a less turbulent time, the Council would have been falling over themselves to appoint a new mentor. Once, the rangers would have let them. Once the spaces between the stars would have been wide enough to engulf them, and themselves very small and lost in the void. Now?

Now, even if they got Zordon back, they're not sure they could ever accept him back. They've learned to read the stars, and even if they don't always know where home is, they always know where _they_ are. They know where they're going and what they're looking for. They're not sure if this means they've outgrown every other team before them, or if they've taken a darker turn altogether.

The Astro Rangers aren't like any other team. They can take care of themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes: **This one's a little longer than the others. I'm actually rather proud of it because I was having trouble with Turbo. I mean, they're basically the same team as In Space. How many issues can one team have?

**Turbo**

The Turbo rangers are like no other.

TJ knows he should feel lucky that he is a ranger now, and not three years ago. He's heard the stories of the old days. He's heard about Rito Revolto destroying the rangers' powers in a single attack. He's heard about Rita Repulsa brainwashing the green ranger and the then-future pink ranger into serving her. He's heard about the Machine Empire overthrowing Lord Zedd, and what Lord Zedd did in revenge. He knows the dark, twisted things villains have done in the name of victory, and he knows what type of odds his predecessors fought against just to make sure he'd be standing here today.

He knows all that.

It's just kind of hard to appreciate this when he's covered in pepperoni and slices of capsicum, and has melted cheese inside his boots.

Rita Repulsa trapped the red ranger in a Dark Dimension and sent in her most powerful minion to kill him. Divatox's idea of diabolical is to bake the rangers in a giant pizza and let her monster of the week eat them. As evil plans go, it lacks a certain something.

It's not that TJ wishes for any of the old villains back. That would be stupid to an idiotic degree. The Turbo powers are good, but they're not up to par with what rangers used to be capable of. It's actually a very good thing that all the old villains seem to have lost interest in earth, because it's unlikely the rangers would be strong enough to beat them. No, the _last_ thing TJ wants is for the old villains to come back.

And yet…

TJ can't help feeling that he is meant for more than this, that there are bigger battles and bigger things out there to fight than one whiny pirate princess. He feels like there is a greater destiny waiting for him, one that _doesn't_ involve going to school smelling faintly of tomato paste or fighting monsters whose worst attack is littering. (Honestly, even the monster who made people dress like bees was more evil than Lord Litter.)

TJ knows the others feel the same way. He can read the sullen set of Carlos' mouth, the angry flash of Ashley's eyes, the impatient tap of Cassie's fingers, and knows they're feeling exactly the way he is. They're all full to brimming with purpose, and no place to put it.

The Turbo team is like no other. No other team has ever felt quite so frustrated.


	9. Chapter 9

**Zeo**

The Zeo Rangers are like no other. They're the most powerful.

The zeo crystals are stronger than any powers the rangers have held before. They're also the least personal. There's no kindly crane or courageous wolf or great falcon to guide them. There are no spirits to whisper advice in the back of their minds during a crisis, or to urge restraint in the midst of battle. The zeo crystals are empty of intent, either good or ill. They don't hate the rangers or love them. They just feed them power when they ask for it. Without resistance, without questions, without judgement.

This, the rangers think, is what Zedd and half the universe was after. It's what makes the zeo crystals so dangerous. It's power without soul. Power without _cost_. It's easy to see how a person might be corrupted.

Some days, the rangers will catch themselves slipping. It's not anything they do. Not yet. It's in the way they think, in their attitude. It's a sort of indifference, a kind of arrogance, a certain willingness to cross lines they'd once scrupulously adhered to. People have begun to distance themselves from the rangers, not knowing the reasons why, perhaps not even consciously realizing it, but intuitively sensing something is wrong. Billy leaves, David rarely visits, and Kimberly breaks off her relationship with Tommy. Even Ernie has gone.

Only Jason, whose powers don't come from a crystal, seems immune to the moral lethargy that has settled over the team. He becomes the others' measuring stick, the means by which they keep track of their personal integrity. When he too leaves, they are alone with the crystals. No voices to guide them, no enemies to fight, just all the power they could ever want. They are hollow and filled to brimming with power. They are burning, and they worry about what is being consumed by that fire. Sometimes they don't worry, and those moments frighten them more than Zedd or Mondo ever did.

When Alpha offers the rangers the Turbo Keys, they take them without hesitation. They hand over their crystals and pick up their keys, not caring that it's a downgrade in abilities, that they'll have to struggle to do what they can do now effortlessly. If they don't hand over the crystals now, they may never be able to.

The Zeo rangers are like no other team. No other team has come so close to being corrupted.


	10. Chapter 10

**Mystic Force**

Mystic Force is like no other team.

They don't need morphers. Most other teams rely on technology to tap into the Power. They think that that Mystic Force's wands are the equivalent of that, which is partially correct, but at the same time, completely wrong.

Not one of Mystic Force were chosen randomly. They were each of them carefully selected for that spark within, that ability born of blood or chance. Not everyone can carry a tune and not everyone can wield magic. Udonna chose the best, the most promising, the sparks that would burn the brightest and the longest. And once chosen, she summoned them, her magic weaving it's subtle tendrils about their lives, manipulating and bending and drawing them to Briarwood.

When she teaches them a spell, she's not teaching them to point sticks and chant a few funny sounding words, though that's what it may look like on the surface. She's reaching in and show them how to reach out. She's showing them how to bend the world and themselves. The wands are just learning tools. Training wheels to help them perform a task until they are skilled enough to do it unaided. Eventually, she has promised, they will not need the wands at all.

Most of the other teams don't get this. Ninja Storm understands, a little. They have attained a primitive level of morphing that doesn't require a technological crutch. Karone could understand if someone taught her, but Udonna has politely and categorically refused to teach her. She doesn't like Karone, for reasons she won't specify, and probably aren't clear even to herself. Karone hadn't seemed upset, or even surprised by the refusal.

It will probably be years before Mystic Force are ready to put aside their wands. But their skill is growing, day by day. Reality is growing increasingly flexible in their grasp, bending and moulding to their whim. Eventually morphing will be the least of their abilities.

Mystic Force is like no other team. They've only just begun to explore their potential.


	11. Chapter 11

**RPM**

* * *

The RPM rangers aren't unique.

They just don't know it.

When Venjix infected the world's computers, years' worth of information was destroyed. The names of the original rangers were on one of the first government databases to crash. Dana Mitchell's ground-breaking paper '_All the Colours of the Rainbow: Integrating a Dysfunctional Team' _was deleted along with other irreplaceable medical texts when Venjix slipped through an SPD firewall. The only copy of Mack Hartford's unpublished biography was lost when his grandson's laptop was confiscated at a Corinth check-in point. Venjix didn't specifically target information on rangers, but he would have been pleased if he'd known. There's an entire chapter of history that just doesn't exist anymore.

There is so much RPM could learn from their predecessors. But all they have are snippets of stories and a lot of speculation. In their minds there's no link between them and those distant, glorious figures that defended earth at the turn of the century. Ziggy doesn't know Conner McKnight was a reluctant hero as well. Summer doesn't know Ashley Hammond was also caught between her family's expectations and her own dreams. Scott doesn't know Sky Tate, like him, struggled and failed to be perfect.

They don't know that they are far from unique, and far from alone.

But RPM doesn't know this.

They have no history.


End file.
